Database and algorithm for evaluating efficacy of an electrophysiology procedure

Abstract

The present invention provides an improved, Internet-based system that seamlessly collects cardiovascular data from a patient before, during, and after a procedure for EP or an ID. During an EP procedure, the system collects information describing the patient's response to PES and the ablation process, ECG waveforms and their various features, HR and other vital signs, HR variability, cardiac arrhythmias, patient demographics, and patient outcomes. Once these data are collected, the system stores them on an Internet-accessible computer system that can deploy a collection of user-selected and custom-developed algorithms. Before and after the procedure, the system also integrates with body-worn and/or programmers that interrogate implanted devices to collect similar data while the patient is either ambulatory, or in a clinic associated with the hospital. A data-collection/storage module, featuring database interface, stores physiological and procedural information measured from the patient.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for evaluating an efficacy of an electrophysiology procedure, comprising:
 a software interface configured to receive ablation locations indicating where a patient's heart has been ablated during a cardiac electrophysiology (EP) procedure, and store numerical representations of the ablation locations in a database; 
 an ECG-measuring system configured to measure a time-dependent ECG waveform from the patient after the EP procedure when the patient is ambulatory, and then transmit numerical representation of the ECG waveform to the database; 
 a first processing system configured to processes the numerical representations of the time-dependent ECG waveform to determine a heart rate and heart rate variability; and 
 a second processing system configured to compare a first set of numerical values indicating the ablation locations to the heart rate and heart rate variability to determine a parameter estimating the efficacy of the EP procedure.